<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><u><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(51,62,72)">Forecasting the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current System</span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><u><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(51,62,72)"><span style="text-decoration-line:none"> </span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)">We
seek a postdoc to work collaboratively with oceanographers at the University of
Rhode Island (URI) and at the US Naval Research Laboratory- Stennis Spaceflight
Center (NRL-SSC) to improve numerical forecasting of the Gulf of Mexico and its
Loop Current System.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><u><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)">Opportunity
/ background.</span></u></b><b><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)">
</span></b><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)">Processes in the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current and
Loop Current Eddies, interacting with sea floor topography, drive essentially
all strong subtidal current variability from sea surface to sea floor in the
deep Gulf of Mexico. Close dynamical
analogies exist to atmospheric jet stream meanders and storm systems,
interacting with Earth's topography, and our forecasting developments build
upon these similarities.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A key gap exists in forecasting of
ocean currents and thermal structure: Almost all input data for model
assimilation are from near-surface measurements. This arises because until
recently in the ocean only surface data have been available in near real time.
In contrast in the atmosphere, barometric pressure and observational profiles
of temperature, density, and wind vectors are available through the full air
column on a suitable grid of sites to forecast the weather. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Cost-effective ways now exist to report subsurface ocean observations
in near real time, and the methods are particularly applicable in marginal seas
such as the Gulf of Mexico. Subsurface ocean observations assimilated into
predictive numerical models offer fundamental advancements in forecasting skill
for ocean currents and thermal structure. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><u><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)"><span style="text-decoration-line:none"> </span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)">Objective:</span></b><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)">
Develop methods to use deep current and bottom pressure observations to extend
forecasts of the strongly varying deep current systems in the Gulf.<b><u></u></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><u><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)"><span style="text-decoration-line:none"> </span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)">Science
collaborators:</span></b><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)"> Prof.
Randolph Watts and Prof. Kathleen Donohue at URI; Dr. Clark Rowley and Dr.
Prasad Thoppil at NRL-SSC. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><u><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)"><span style="text-decoration-line:none"> </span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)">Requirements
and Preferences:</span></b><span style="color:rgb(51,62,72)"> Candidates should have a PhD,
and a broad range of experience will be considered, such as physics,
mathematics, engineering, meteorology, physical oceanography. Some preference will be given for a
background in mesoscale/synoptic scale processes in the ocean/atmosphere, and
for data assimilation in ocean/atmosphere modeling. There is a strong
preference for candidates who are US citizens or permanent resident (green
card holders), to have access to NRL computer systems. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><u><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(51,62,72)"><span style="text-decoration-line:none"> </span></span></u></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 12pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><strong><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(52,52,51)">Application Instructions: </span></strong><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(52,52,51)"> send to </span><span style="color:black"><a href="mailto:randywatts@uri.edu" style="color:rgb(5,99,193)"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">randywatts@uri.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(52,52,51)">,
using “Post Doc Position” as subject line:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 3pt 57pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Symbol;color:rgb(52,52,51)">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="color:rgb(52,52,51)">Cover
Letter & Research Interests (2 pages max)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 3pt 57pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Symbol;color:rgb(52,52,51)">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="color:rgb(52,52,51)">CV</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 3pt 57pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Symbol;color:rgb(52,52,51)">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="color:rgb(52,52,51)">Contact
information for two professional references </span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(52,52,51)">Evaluation of applications will begin on <strong><span style="border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">March 19<sup>th</sup></span></strong><strong>, 2024</strong>.
The position's anticipated start date is June 1, 2024, and will remain open
until filled. The position is initially for a one‐year appointment, and is
renewable with 2 years funding in hand. </span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,62,72)">Funded by the
National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine under the Understanding
Gulf Ocean Systems program.</span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(52,52,51)"> </span><b><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,62,72)"></span></b></p><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">D. Randolph Watts <a href="mailto:randywatts@uri.edu" target="_blank">randywatts@uri.edu</a><div>Professor of Oceanography - 215 South Ferry Road</div><div>University of Rhode Island</div><div>Narragansett, RI 02882 USA tel: +1 401.874.6507 </div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>